Chronicles of the Chosen One: Chamber of Secrets
by padawan lynne
Summary: Harry's back at Hogwarts for his second year, but he discovers that his most important lesson this year may be the most difficult as he deals with his growing feelings for Hermione and the reappearance of an ancient legend.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: The Start of Summer**

Harry rolled over in bed, pleased that he didn't have to get up early today. His master had given him a break from morning training that day, saying that he deserved a lie in after the eventful end to his first year. Harry thought back on it and grimaced. Saving the Philosopher's Stone had been good, but killing his Defense teacher hadn't been so good. Still, the Stone was back with its rightful owner, and he and his fellow first years had escaped with minor injuries. Thinking it over, he grinned. His first year and he had one very best friend, who he hoped would turn into his girlfriend in later years, he had two other best friends, and the four of them were going to learn to turn into their animagus forms this summer, and one enemy who Harry didn't really count as an enemy, he qualified as more of a jealous rival. Harry turned over and snuggled down into the sheets again, closing his eyes.

Only to be awakened by a freezing cold bath. "Aagh, Master, what in the Sith did you do that for," he demanded sitting up and shivering.

His master grinned at him. "I did call you several times, Padawan. Hermione, Fred and George are going to be here soon, to say nothing of Minerva. Would you prefer that I let them see you in your boxers?" she enquired mildly. Harry blanched, before racing for the shower.

In ten minutes he was showered, dressed and downstairs, eating breakfast at record speed. He then jumped into the lounge where he straightened his clothes, slowed his breathing and calmed down. He then smiled when his thoughts fell on Hermione; he had got several letters from her, most starting with his Demon nickname of Jet and ending with her nickname of Tawny. They had started to use those as affectionate names for each other, as well as being the names they would use when starting the prank siege of Hogwarts that they, along with the other two members of their group, Fred and George, who were known as Rusty and Blaze were planning. Hogwarts would tremble in fear; as the Demons were on the rampage.

While he was lost in thought, the Floo flared up. Fred and George stepped through, greeting Harry with wide smiles and enthusiastic hugs, saying, "Jet, old chap, how are you today," and "Jet, my good man, have you though up any start of year pranks for Hogwarts?" Harry shushed them; he didn't want his master knowing that he was planning on pranking Hogwarts all year this year. It was going to be fun, but he didn't want her knowing about it. Gred and Forge hushed as ordered, realising why Harry didn't want their plans becoming known. They were distracted from pranks when the Floo flared again, admitting Hermione into Sanctuary.

Harry stepped forward with a wide smile, drawing her into a tight hug, and whispering in her ear "I missed you, Tawny."

He smiled as she hugged him back, whispering, "It's only been a few days, Jet; surely you can last longer than that".

Harry gave a rather goofy grin before saying in a normal tone "I find my powers of Jedi stamina are strained without you around my dear, Tawny."

Hermione punched his shoulder gently. "OK enough with the cheesy dialogue, where's Professor McGonagall?"

She jumped back in shock as said Professor materialised in the Floo, stepping out and saying "Right here, Miss Granger, shall we begin."

The lesson went well, and at the end of it, Harry could grow fur on his arms, and the beginnings of a tail, Hermione could grow fur on her arms, and whiskers on her face. Fred and George shrank and grew tails but otherwise remained human. Through it all, Kiara stood in the doorway, snapping pictures at random intervals and laughing at the indignant looks that Harry was giving her.

Finally Harry had had enough and snapped, "If you think this is so funny, Master, why don't you try it." He regretted it a minute later when Kiara stepped into the living room and gracefully changed into a wolf herself. She rubbed her head against his and gave a small growl when Fred tried to pull her tail. Turning round she transformed back again. Harry stared at her in disbelief.

"When did you learn to do that, Master?" he asked.

Kiara smirked at him and said, "You four weren't the only ones getting animagi lessons last year." Harry groaned and returned to visualising himself as Jet.

Several hours later he stopped, as he had a headache from all the visualisation. Professor McGonagall said that all four of them had made good progress, especially since they weren't really supposed to have learnt this stuff until sixth year. Harry politely thanked her and then went to ask his master if the Demons could stay for tea. Kiara agreed as long as the Grangers and the Weasleys agreed. Fred and Hermione Flooed their parents and came back with affirmatives.

Later that night, after Hermione and the Twins had gone home; Harry was seated on his bed meditating. He caught a flash of a giant snake, and a diary. Frowning, he filed that away before going to sleep, looking forward to more animagi lessons the next day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Final Transformations and Lockheart**

Harry, Hermione, Fred and George continued working on their animagus transformations over the summer, in between working on homework and, for Harry at least, continuing Jedi training. Kiara had decided that now would be a good time to start Harry on learning how to deal with being in any kind of restraints, and/or having his access to the Force removed. So, one day after the rest of the Demons had gone home after completing a homework session in which they had finished all their homework, she and Harry were in the training hall, underneath Sanctuary. Harry was currently on his knees, blindfolded and his hands were tied behind his back. He had trained blindfolded before so he wasn't worried about having no sight, what he was worried about was the fact that he couldn't fight back. The first part of this training was to restrain him but leave his access to the Force intact, teaching him how to attack with his mind. The second part, he had been told, was to do the same thing but this time, cut off his access to the Force while leaving him free to move. He would not be started on this until he had mastered the first part though, which was why he was currently kneeling in the centre of the room, cursing his master mentally with every single curse he knew.

**:Padawan I heard that: **a sharp exclamation came through the bond. Harry cursed himself and tightened his shields, trying hard to control the panic that was slowly rising inside him. The twelve-year-old Jedi twisted slightly, trying to guess where his master was, by any sound she made. The problem with this was that the room itself echoed so he couldn't rely entirely on his ears. He sighed and sank into the Force, feeling his panic fade as he was now able to distinguish where his master was, as well as the location of the projectile hurtling towards him.

'Wait, what!' he thought in alarm. He instinctively reacted, pulling one of the mats stacked against the wall across the room and into the path of the projectile. It hit with a resounding THUMP, and dropped to the ground. Harry sighed in relief.

After a few more projectiles had been thrown at him from random directions, his master started circling him. Kiara kept to the shadows, occasionally bounding out of them to lightly touch his cheek, or ruffle his hair, or tap his shoulder. Finally Harry caught onto what she was doing and the next time she "attacked," he spun to face her and sent a mental Force push towards her. He heard a surprised "Oomph" and a Thud! as she landed, and then the blindfold undid itself and he saw his master lying on top of the mats across the room, looking surprised but also pleased. She slowly got up, testing to see if anything was broken, and finding that nothing was, she came across to release him. Harry rose slightly stiffly, and looked around. The projectiles had been large soft foam balls and the mat that he had used to defend himself was lying on the floor. He shivered slightly as he walked out of the room and up the stairs to the rest of the house. His master joined him and placed an arm round his shoulders.

"That was tough today, Master," he complained slightly. "I didn't like not being able to move, I almost started panicking."

Kiara hugged him tighter for a second before answering. "I know, Padawan but the whole point of this set of exercises is to get you past the panic, to teach you to focus even when you think you can't. Also it's useful to be able to move things mentally without needing to use your hands or other appendages. This part of training is tough, Padawan, and I'm sorry, but it's also necessary. If it's any consolation, my name for it when I went through it was "Training from hell". No one likes it and it will only get tougher before it gets better. Just don't think about it."

Harry grumbled slightly but headed upstairs to shower before dinner. After dinner he went to bed as he wanted an early start for the next day's animagus transformation. They were finally going to try the full change and he could hardly wait.

The next morning, after his usual run and meditation session, Harry was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Professor McGonagall and the rest of the Demons. Even though he'd seen them yesterday, he still missed having them over. He was looking forward to changing into Jet for the first time and seeing Tawny, Rusty and Blaze fully for the first time as well would be good. He then had an idea.

"Hey master, when Fred, George, Hermione and I change into Rusty, Blaze, Tawny and Jet for the first time, could you change into Shadow, please?" he asked. Kiara raised an eyebrow but agreed. Soon after the Floo flared up, admitting the Demons and McGonagall into Sanctuary again.

The change was delayed somewhat, by Fred and George saying that they wanted to change their nicknames to Fleetfoot and Puck. The others agreed with the name change without protest and they began attempting the full transformation.

Fifteen minutes later, there was a chorus of barks and growls as Tawny, Jet, Fleetofoot and Puck got to know each other. Jet tried to play with Shadow but ended up on his back with his throat gripped lightly but firmly by Shadow's jaws. Tawny also submitted to Shadow while Fleetfoot and Puck got chased round the room when they nipped her tail. After awhile they changed back, Hermione and Harry sharing a hug of congratulations, while the entire group laughed in triumph and a sense of achievement.

That afternoon, the Demons met up with the rest of the Weasley family in Diagon Alley. They headed for various shops, getting what they needed, before heading to Flourish and Blott's, the bookstore. It was crowded with witches, all wanting a glimpse of Gilderoy Lockheart. Harry, Fred and George groaned while Hermione, Ginny and Molly Weasley were starry-eyed over the wizard. Harry turned away in disgust at the blond haired fop, and was just moving to get his books when a hand fell on his arm. Lockheart dragged him forcefully into the front of the crowd, supposedly for a photograph, when another hand fell on Lockheart's other arm and a cold voice hissed in his ear to let Harry go or there would be serious consequences. Lockheart turned to see Kiara standing directly behind him, a murderous look of her face.

Harry took the opportunity to pull away, and went back to browsing the bookshelves. Pulling Hermione aside he told her about how Lockheart was a fraud, and took credit for other people's accomplishments, and that the Defense teacher had better be competent because Lockheart's "Defense" textbooks were all self-aggrandising fiction. The two second-years looked up at the sound of a scuffle, to see Mr Weasley and Lucius Malfoy engaged in a fight. Harry spotted Draco Malfoy standing off to the side and exchanged glances. They weren't exactly friends but they weren't enemies either. Soon the fight broke up and Harry paid for his books and left, but not before promising to owl Hermione with the details on what they would be learning in their study sessions this year. He had asked his master for permission to teach Hermione the basics of mental shielding, what wizards called Occlumency, and got it. A Legilimens had to be extremely powerful to break a Jedi's mental shields but Hermione's mind was currently unprotected, and Harry would bet a fair amount of gold on the fact that Dumbledore liked peering into students' minds. He needed to protect Hermione from that as soon as possible.

Getting back to Sanctuary, he unpacked his stuff for second year and went over it. He snorted in disgust at all the wrong information contained within the "textbooks" and took one of the Defense textbooks he had bought last year and placed it in his trunk. This textbook had all the second year stuff correct and also had extensions to the information. Harry nodded in satisfaction as he finished packing and then changed into Jet before wandering down the stairs. He stopped for a minute, just watching.

Kiara was reading a newspaper, muttering every now and then about the "stupid ministry". Jet crept forward and thrust his head into her lap, looking up at her with large eyes. Kiara laughed as she got off her chair, knelt down and hugged him round his neck. Standing up, Jet rose onto his hind legs, placing his front paws on Kiara's shoulders. Grinning, Kiara started trying to dance with him. It was pretty silly, but very relaxing and de-stressing. Suddenly there was a choked laugh from behind them, Hermione had returned to get her bag which she'd forgotten earlier. Jet jumped off Kiara and ran to her, giving her a big lick across her face, before changing back into Harry.

"Eww, Harry don't," she laughingly complained. Harry grinned before cautiously, daringly, kissing Hermione's cheek. They both stopped at this, blushing and pulling away from each other. Smiling, Hermione picked up her bag and left promising to see Harry on the train September First.

Harry turned round to see his master doing a very bad job of looking innocent, she finally broke down and asked "Deepening the relationship very much, Padawan?" referring to the kiss.

Harry flushed and retorted "It was only on the cheek, we're still just friends." He couldn't help wondering though, just what it would be like to kiss Hermione properly. He fell asleep that night dreaming of the original vision when he first met Jet. The cubs were now bigger and had turned into children. The young Jedi smiled as he slept; unaware that Hermione was having the same dream. And, unbeknownst to both, the bond between them grew stronger and started to solidify.

The next morning, Harry went through the same training, as the day before, although this time he was able to control the unease, and deflected projectiles back where they came from, or else towards his master. At the end of the session, he was mentally tired, but the look of pride on Kiara's face was well worth it. He wasn't quite so pleased upon hearing what she had to say though.

"Well done, Harry, you got that exercise faster than most Padawans would. Now you're ready for the second part, we'll start that tomorrow. It will probably be a bit disorientating at first but you'll get used to it. Once you've mastered that, we'll go onto the final part," she said with a grin.

"Final part!" Harry yelped. "I thought there was only two parts to it, not three!"

"Sorry, Padawan, there are indeed three parts, the final part being cutting off both your mobility and access to the Force, to help you deal with what would happen if you were captured by an enemy. The third part isn't as time consuming and we can work on it during the Christmas break."

Harry groaned, he was starting to wonder if it was worthwhile being a Jedi, if this sort of torture was what they called training. He then immediately squashed that train of thought, he loved being a Jedi and categorised this section of training as "Unpleasant but necessary." He shrugged, and headed upstairs to shower before writing to Hermione, telling her about the plans for Christmas break and also about how they should learn Defence on their own this year as the books were horrible. That done, he grabbed his broom and went outside for a fly.

Coming in, very tired but happy, he sat down to lunch, barely hearing his master's enquiry as to whether he wanted to go to Hermione's for the afternoon. The only word that percolated to his brain was "Hermione," and then he looked up, asking his master to repeat the question. Upon hearing the question he said "YES" before speed-munching the rest of his lunch and racing upstairs to change. Kiara chuckled as he dashed downstairs again, grabbed the Floo powder, said a hasty goodbye and left in a flash of flame.

That night, Kiara received a Floo call asking if Harry could stay the night and return the next morning. Looking forward to some time to work on the problem of disconnecting the possible link between Harry and the Dark Idiot (which was Kiara's name for Voldemort), she agreed. Harry spent a wonderful night with Hermione and her parents, being interrogated about his training, and sharing prank ideas with Hermione. He returned home the next morning with bags under his eyes but looking happy. Kiara took one look at him and ordered him up to bed, stating that he needed to catch up on sleep if he wanted to get up in time for the Hogwarts Express the next morning. Harry yawned and nodded, crashing on his bed where he ended up sleeping most of the day, only coming down for dinner, before going back up to bed. Kiara in the meantime, continued her research, with a worrying lack of results. Finally pushing it aside she went to bed herself, resolving to continue once Harry was safely at Hogwarts.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Back to Hogwarts**

Harry was on time for the train to Hogwarts. He climbed on board, taking his trunk out of his pocket, and unshrinking it, thanking whatever person made it possible for apprentices to do magic all year round. He spotted Hermione coming up the steps and waved, before heading into an empty compartment. He was soon joined by Hermione and the two shared a brief hug before recounting what they'd done since they'd seen each other last. It wasn't much because they'd seen each other a couple of days ago.

Soon other students came on board and they were joined by Fred and George, with a young girl in tow, that Harry recognised instantly as Ginny Weasley, the youngest Weasley child and the only girl. Hermione was very pleased to see her.

"Hi Ginny,", she said. "I'm glad to see you, now I'm not outnumbered by boys anymore."

Both she and Ginny giggled as the aforementioned boys said "Oy. We're not that bad." Smiling shyly, Ginny settled in, happy to have made some new friends.

"Harry my fine fellow, Ron was threatening you this summer," Fred said.

"Yes and he was saying ridiculous things too," George chimed in.

"Such as, he was going to turn your hair blue…"

"Or cover you in boils,"

"Or turn your hair into snakes," both finished.

Harry had been looking back and forth as the twins finished each others sentences, and then said rather weakly, "Thanks guys, but the way you talk like that is creepy."

Ginny laughed and entered the conversation for the first time. "Be glad you don't have to live with them, it's awful," she giggled.

Fred and George looked highly affronted at this and said, as they got up. "Right, we're off to,"

"Torment some first years,"

"Not to mention Ron,"

"If he comes by here,"

"Hex him for us will you."

They finished the last sentence together before disappearing out the door. Harry, Hermione and Ginny settled down to read for the journey, buying some snacks off the trolley. Ron didn't show up for the whole trip, and by the time they got to Hogsmeade even Fred and George were worried, saying that they hadn't seen him on the train either. The group separated, Ginny going with the other first years on the boats, and the Demons in a carriage. It didn't take long before they were at the school and sitting down at the Gryffindor table. Ron still hadn't appeared. Suddenly Hedwig showed up with a message for Harry.

_Harry_

_Tell Fleetfoot and Puck that their brother is currently flying their father's car to Hogwarts. Tell no one else though. Hope you got to Hogwarts OK_

_Love_

_Kiara_

Harry snorted with laughter, showing the note to Hermione, before whispering "Hey, Fleetfoot, Puck, look at this."

The twins looked at the note before gasping with laughter.

"Oh Merlin." One of them stated.

"Mum is going to kill him," the other one said.

"And we can't even congratulate him," they finished mournfully.

Harry chuckled, wondering whether the prat would get seen, then realising he must have if Kiara had seen him. He mentally laughed, wondering what Mrs Weasley was going to say. He had met her over the summer, and while he thought she was very nice, she had a temper to rival his master's at her worst. Harry shook his head; he wouldn't like to be in Ron's shoes when Mrs Weasley found out about the car.

The first years were led in and the Sorting began. Harry listened with half an ear to the song, watching Ginny. He clapped hard when she was sorted into Gryffindor and made sure a seat was open next to him so that she could sit down. She took it happily and then Dumbledore stood up.

After the requisite pre-Feast announcements, the food appeared and they all dug in. Harry was hungry from the train ride but he wasn't so engrossed in his dinner not to notice another mental probe. He grinned viciously. He didn't like people trying to get into his head uninvited, and part of his training the past summer had been how to turn a mental attack back on the attacker so that they experienced a severe migraine. He utilised this training now, and enhanced his hearing with the Force, directing it towards the head table, hearing a slight hiss of breath from Dumbledore. He looked up to see Dumbledore press his hand against his head briefly, before looking at him. Harry glared at him, conveying that he could do much worse if more attempts were made. Dumbledore was the first to look away, conceding defeat in this round. Harry looked at Snape, to see an odd look in the man's dark eyes. 'Was that approval?' Harry thought in shock. When he next looked though, Snape was glaring at him again, with no trace of that odd look at all. Harry shrugged, before beginning on dessert.

After dessert, Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors headed up to the Tower. Hermione gave him a brief hug when no one else was watching, before they headed up their respective staircases to go to bed. Someone was watching though. Ginny Weasley watched as the boy she had a crush on hugged Hermione. Turning away she walked to the first year dormitories, getting out the little diary that she'd found in her schoolbooks. Turning the page she picked up her quill. Tom would understand what she was feeling. He would help her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Howlers for Breakfast**

The first morning of their second year, Harry and Hermione got up at their usual time to start training like they had done for their first year. Surprisingly, Ginny Weasley was also up, and she asked if she could join them. Harry shrugged and agreed, not thinking that she would be able to keep up. Ginny managed to stay with the two Demons for the first lap of the lake, but stopped at the second. Hermione looked back and saw her sitting on the grass watching Harry with a slightly dreamy look in her eyes. A foreign feeling rose within her that she identified after a moment as jealousy. Shocked at this discovery, she slowed down. Harry slowed down too, looking sideways at her as he asked what was wrong.

"Jet, I think I now understand what you feel when Ron Weasley looks at me," she said, slightly ashamed. Harry looked at Ginny and understood immediately.

"Don't worry about it, Tawny, there's no other person in the entire galaxy that can hold a candle to you, and I have no intention of leaving," he said. He then moved off, keeping his pace steady while he waited for Hermione to catch up. While they ran, he snuck another glance at Ginny and then grinned.

"Hey, Tawny, I guess both of us have unwanted Weasley attention," he said.

Hermione glanced at him and then smiled. "Yeah, Jet I guess we do. Ginny seems to be more flexible than her brother though, so maybe you could have a talk with her and tell her the situation. Make sure you do it gently though, you may be able to get her off this crush on you while still retaining her as a friend". Harry thought about it before nodding. Soon after they finished their run and moved into the martial arts they'd been practicing. Hermione had been attending the summer martial arts and fencing classes that Kiara ran, and was now quite good, although, if Harry started using the Force to augment his techniques, she stood no chance and quite freely admitted it. During a break in their fencing, she asked Harry a question that made him think.

"Harry", she started. "Would it be possible to use my magic, to sense my surroundings like you do with the Force?"

Harry sat up from where he had been sitting on the ground and stared at her. "What?"

"You heard. Would it be possible?"

"I don't know, Hermione, we could go ask Professor Flitwick I suppose."

Hermione jumped up. "Let's go do that then," she said impatiently.

Harry caught hold of her arm, tugging her down on the grass beside him. "Wait" he said. "We need to stretch out otherwise we'll get cramps, and then we need to go back to Gryffindor and have a shower or something, we're both sweaty and hot. Professor Flitwick isn't going anywhere, it's Saturday, remember? Besides all that we can visit him after breakfast, I'm hungry!"

Laughing, Hermione got up and pulled Harry to his feet. Slinging their arms round each other's shoulders, they walked back to the castle. Going into the portrait hole that led to the Gryffindor common room, they spotted Ginny sitting on the couch.

"Go and talk to her Harry," Hermione whispered. "Do it now and maybe she won't feel so bad. Just remember to be gentle," Harry hugged her briefly before going over to Ginny.

"Hey Ginny," he said, sitting down beside her.

She looked up. "Hi Harry," she muttered.

Harry looked concerned. "Ginny, I know you have a crush on me. The fact is though, that Hermione and I have a really strong bond that started growing last year. We love each other and that's not going to change. I'm sorry about where that leaves you, but I can only offer friendship, nothing more."

Ginny glanced at him, he looked seriously upset at having to let her down. She nodded and pulled herself together.

"Sure, Harry. I understand. I'll just go now, leave you alone."

As she started to get up, Harry caught hold of her arm. "Wait, Ginny, I still want to be friends. Think about it, please?" He let go and headed up the stairs to shower, hurt that he had had to hurt Ginny, even if he didn't mean to. He shook himself, and went into the dormitory, grabbed his clothing and went to shower.

When he came back downstairs, the Force warned him of an impending attack, just in time for him to duck a fist that was on a collision course with his face. Ron Weasley, his face redder than a tomato, was yelling at him about hurting his baby sister. Ginny, Harry was amused to notice, didn't much like being referred to as a baby. He calmly explained the situation, right before Ron's next punch collided with his nose.

"Ouch," Harry muttered thickly as he hit the floor. He noticed cries of outrage were coming from all around him, the loudest ones being Ginny and Hermione. They were yelling at Ron, Hermione for hurting Harry, and Ginny for daring to attack him even after having heard the explanation. Then he was helped up, and Hermione hugged him, while bemoaning the state of his nose. Ginny stepped towards him and, after glancing quickly at Hermione, who merely smiled and nodded, hugged him as well. After being let go, Harry walked up the stairs to the bathroom, where he took hold of his nose and, blunting the pain receptors in the immediate area, pulled it back into shape. He then directed healing energy towards it and felt the bones knit back together. In five minutes he was good as new and went back downstairs, now even hungrier.

Halfway through breakfast, an owl swooped down that Harry recognised as Errol, the Weasley family owl. He saw that it was carrying a red envelope that appeared to be smoking. Puzzled he turned to ask Ginny what it was, only to find every Weasley within view staring at the red envelope with a mixture of horror and dread. Fred, seeing his puzzlement leaned forward to explain, while Ron was working up the courage to open it.

"Howler, Harry. About the worst piece of mail a student can receive. Basically it takes a parental reprimand and shouts it at the top of its lungs in front of whoever happens to be around at the time. Cover your ears, Mum can get pretty loud normally, and the Howler will magnify the sound about one hundred-fold."

Harry understood when the Howler exploded a second later. Mrs Weasley's voice was definitely magnified, and it hurt his ears. He turned down his sensitivity using the Force so that it sounded like normal speech. With that done, he listened, and smirked to himself. It sounded like Mrs Weasley had found out about the car. Mind you so had everyone else as it had been seen by seven muggles, flying out of King's Cross station.

He looked at Hermione, who was staring in a sort of horrified fascination. She then leaned towards him and gave him a nasty case of stomach ache with her next comment.

"Harry, you'd better hope that your master doesn't know how to make those or you might be in real trouble one of these days," she said, referring to the pranks they were about to start terrorising the school with. Harry turned a rather nasty shade of green at this, and fervently hoped that his master DIDN'T know how to make those. He would definitely die if a Howler arrived for him at breakfast. He looked up as he heard someone enter the Great Hall. Turning round to see who it was, he groaned as he saw Lockheart come waltzing into the room. The blond git was wearing robes of such a bright yellow that Harry seriously considered wearing sunglasses to his class. Hermione sighed happily until Harry kicked her under the table.

"What," she growled in annoyance.

"Number One fraud, remember," Harry warned.

Hermione growled at him but stopped sighing over Lockheart.

Breakfast entertainment over, the Demons retreated to the Den, to plan the first prank of the year, and also to get things ready for the first study session that would be on Monday. They also had a great time making up names for Lockheart, the more derisive the better. The first prank was to be on him, and then the rest of the school.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Pranks and Problems**

The four Demons walked into the Great Hall that afternoon laughing quietly. The first prank had been set, and all it had taken was a visit to the kitchens. The house elves there were more than happy to help them as Lockheart had apparently insulted their cooking. Fred and George sat down on one side of the table, while Hermione and Harry sat down opposite them. The rest of the hall filled up with students eager for lunch, and the noise grew. Harry wondered why the noise seemed muted, then realised that his hearing was still turned down with the Force. The young Jedi snorted at his own idiocy and restored his hearing to normal level. The sound appeared to be turned up for a moment, before settling into a buzz of general noise. Then the teachers started arriving. The table was almost full, when Lockheart strode up the centre of the Hall, still wearing his outlandishly yellow robes. Both Harry and Snape sneered in disgust, Snape looking quite startled when he saw that Harry was wearing the same expression as he was. Harry ignored Snape, focusing instead on the blond idiot who was about to get his comeuppance.

As soon as Lockheart sat down, he felt a strange trance come over him. He ate some of his lunch, before turning to Dumbledore and saying in a loud voice, "I am a fraud." The whole Hall gasped in shock. Snape was smirking, while the rest of the teachers looked horrified. Lockheart continued dreamily, "I couldn't teach Defense even if it were to save my own life." The students were giggling by now and the Demons could barely restrain themselves. Everyone lost it at the next comment from the idiot. "I spend most of my time preening in front of a mirror and checking my over-large teeth for the tiniest cavity. I am so vain you could Transfigure me into a peacock and no one would be able to tell the difference."

Students were falling out of their chairs, the staff was desperately trying to look disapproving (although Harry could see that McGonagall was fighting back a smile, as was Snape) and Lockheart came out of his trance to find the entire school population laughing at him. He turned to see what the matter was, and then a banner appeared in the air.

THIS PRANK WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY FLEETFOOT, PUCK, TAWNY AND JET. THE NEW GENERATION OF PRANKSTERS.

The students were wondering who this group could be, they were obviously pranksters, but anyone that pranked Lockheart was OK with them. They shrugged and finished off their lunches, unaware of the Demonic things that would happen over the next few days.

The Demons ran back to their Den, collapsing in hysterical laughter once they were safely inside. "Did you see everyone's faces?" Fred laughed.

"It was definitely a good idea to go into business with you two," George agreed. Harry and Hermione just laughed, trying to compose themselves. After about five minutes or so they were all calm although the occasional giggle escaped at random intervals.

"Now let's plan the school prank," Harry said, eyes gleaming. He hadn't had this much fun in ages. He suddenly remembered a prank he'd pulled once and wondered if it could be adapted.

"Hey guys, I thought of this wonderful prank," he began. The other three leaned in as he explained. When he'd finished, they were rolling on the floor in laughter, and heartily approved of the idea.

That evening, Harry went up to Dumbledore's office. He had with him a bag of specially doctored lemon drops. He knew the old wizard had run out the day before and had offered to get him some. Dumbledore let him in and they made small talk before Harry gave him the lemon drops, taking one himself to prove that they weren't pranked (or so Dumbledore thought). Dumbledore stated that he would take one the next morning, before going down to breakfast. Harry grinned with glee as he made his way back to his fellow co-conspirators.

**The next morning:** Dumbledore came down for breakfast, dressed in his customary purple robes with silver stars on them. At least that was what he thought he was wearing. As he walked up to the head table, the students suddenly started whispering and some of the muggle-borns started choking with laughter. McGonagall's eyes widened and she shot a look at Harry and the rest of his group, silently asking _Did you do this?_ Harry smiled back and nodded. He then indicated that she should look at Flitwick. She did so, and had to muffle a laugh. All of a sudden Snape came in, looking far different (at least to everyone else) than he normally did. The rest of the staff didn't put in an appearance, but those who did were more than enough. McGonagall suddenly felt her own clothing change as well and then looked down at the same time as the rest of the staff present.

Dumbledore was dressed as Emperor Palpatine, Snape was dressed as Darth Vader, Flitwick had changed into Yoda while McGonagall had turned into a Jedi Knight. The students were in hysterics, it wasn't every day that someone managed to prank the Headmaster, and senior staff members. Even better, the prank lasted until dinner so the students got used to seeing Emperor Palpatine walking down the hall conversing civilly with a Jedi Knight. Darth Vader was often seen with them as well. Every time they encountered Harry, Dumbledore and Snape would mutter a charm that shot a beam of light similar to a lightsaber out of the ends of their wands. Then they would engage Harry in a mock duel, which was very entertaining. At dinner though, the prank wore off and the staff went back to normal, much to Flitwick and McGonagall's secret disappointment (and the more open disappointment of the student population).

Classes started the next morning, and Harry went to them in high spirits. He smiled through Potions and Transfiguration, although Snape eyed him suspiciously and didn't smile very much, although McGonagall did. He settled down to work, sliding into the routine of classes and homework easily. Hermione and the twins followed this example, taking to the work with enthusiasm. Fred and George even found time to explain fourth year work to the two second years, when they could be bothered going to their classes of course. In this way, a month or two passed and then trouble struck.

It was Halloween again, and Harry was returning from dinner when he heard a rustling in the walls. He stopped and listened, then heard a hissing voice. Realising it was a snake; he followed it, speeding up as he heard it muttering about killing. Racing into the corridor that Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was on, he saw water on the floor, and hanging from the light fixture was Mrs Norris, Filch's cat. Harry spun round seeing a message written in blood on the wall.

**The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir Beware.**

Just as Harry turned round again, a collection of students appeared, only to stop dead at the sight of Harry Potter, resident Jedi, standing underneath the frozen form of Mrs Norris, with a threatening message on the wall. Harry then saw both Filch and Snape come up behind the students, followed by Dumbledore and McGonagall. As Filch screamed at him, he watched Dumbledore closely and sighed when the Headmaster turned to him, no trace of a twinkle in his eyes. As he was ordered to follow Dumbledore to his office, he felt McGonagall come up behind him. His last thought before leaving the hall was 'This is not good. This is not good at all.'


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: Suspicion**

Harry and McGonagall followed Dumbledore up to his office. The Headmaster sat in his chair behind his desk while Harry stood in front of it, hands behind his back, waiting for him to speak. McGonagall stood behind him and Harry felt glad that she was there, if he couldn't have his master there, then McGonagall was the next best person. He noted idly that McGonagall was standing not directly behind him but about a pace back and slightly to the left. She didn't know it but that was the exact position that Kiara would be standing in if she were here. He returned his attention to Dumbledore as he began to speak.

"Mr Potter, you were found underneath the Petrified form of Mrs Norris, and there was also a message regarding the Chamber of Secrets. Do you know anything about this matter?" he queried.

Harry stood straighter, and answered evenly "Are you accusing me Headmaster? I have no knowledge of this Chamber, nor would I wish to open it. If you are going to accuse me then say so but I believe the normal practice is to assume a suspect is innocent until proven guilty. As I have stated that I do not know anything about this, may I go?" McGonagall was quietly proud of Harry, not many second years could stand like that and calmly defend themselves against Dumbledore. Her respect for him rose a bit higher than before.

"Very well, Mr Potter, you may go. Before you do though, is there anything you want to tell me?" Harry debated with himself a minute before dismissing the idea of telling Dumbledore about the voice he'd heard. He needed to research it more before presenting any conclusions. Turning, he left the office after giving his Head of House a slight bow. She nodded to him as he walked onto the spiral staircase.

A week or so later, after yet another prank on Lockheart, this one causing him to have neon-green teeth and purple hair, not to mention orange skin all day, a notice was posted on the noticeboard of the Gryffindor common room. Harry, tired from a gruelling Quidditch practice, glanced at it as he walked by. He then looked at it more closely; it said that there was a duelling club starting the next night. Harry, Hermione, Fred and George, along with most of the Gryffindors, agreed to go and check it out.

The next evening, most of the school was clustered in the Great Hall. A duelling platform had been set up and there were whispered conversations about who was going to be teaching it. Most of the students were hoping it wasn't Lockheart, the man couldn't teach Defense at all, and was absolutely hopeless. Therefore there was a loud groan when the aforementioned idiot stepped up onto the platform. Harry merely closed his eyes.

"Wake me when this is over, Tawny," he requested.

Hermione shook his arm. "I don't think you want to miss this, Jet, his opponent is Professor Snape."

Harry's eyes flew open again, just in time to hear Snape yell, _Expelliarmus _and see Lockheart get blasted backwards. He, along with a good portion of the male students cheered. The females groaned, with the exception of Hermione. Then Lockheart asked for student volunteers. Harry was picked, and so was Draco Malfoy. As he and Malfoy squared off Harry couldn't help muttering to himself "I have a very bad feeling about this". Then the duel began. Harry was doing well, shooting a tickling charm at Malfoy and dodging his return spell. Then Malfoy shot a spell that sent a massive cobra slithering at Harry. He spared a moment to grin in memory of another big snake that he had talked with, before noticing that the cobra was heading towards one of the Hufflepuff students. He quickly stepped forward and hissed at the snake.

_:Stop:_ he hissed.

The snake turned to look at him._ :No,_ it hissed back, _:I want to be sent home. Get out of my way:_

Harry took another step forward. _:You will be sent home, but you are scaring my schoolmates:_ he hissed.

The snake turned to consider this and then stopped. _:Sssend me home, Speaker. I apologise for scaring your nestmatessss:_

Snape stepped forward, Vanishing the cobra as he did so. Harry looked up as he heard muttering coming from all around him. Hermione, Fred and George were staring at him with sympathy in their eyes while the only emotion in the faces of the other students was suspicion, mixed with fear. He stretched out with the Force, and the wave of fear, suspicion and anger almost overwhelmed him. Hurriedly he shut off the extra sense, and practically ran out of the Hall. He then ran to the Den, changing into Jet as soon as the door was shut. Curling up in a ball, he whimpered, he hadn't meant to reveal his talent but he had to do something otherwise that cobra would have attacked. He couldn't help remembering the last time he had accidentally set a snake on someone without meaning to.

_Flashback: _

_Seven-year-old Harry was quite happily conversing with a python that had slithered into the garden at Sanctuary. Kiara was sitting in a chair off to the side __watching him to make sure he didn't wander off. To Harry, she looked slightly upset, although that wasn't the case, she was merely tired. Harry then had a brilliant idea._

_:Will you give my Master a hug: he hissed to the snake. _

_The python raised its head and looked at the little boy. :Does she need one: it hissed. _

_Harry nodded enthusiastically. :Yes, she looks upset and she always gives me a hug whenever I'm upset. I'm not big enough to hug her properly yet though. That's why I'm asking you: he said. The snake thought for a moment before agreeing. Harry happily wandered over to Kiara._

"_Master, I've got a friend that wants to give you a hug," he said happily. _

_Kiara looked at him and smiled. "OK then, where is he," she asked, thinking that it might be an imaginary friend. She was therefore shocked and alarmed when a gigantic python slithered out of the bushes and wrapped itself around her. When the snake started constricting, Kiara almost panicked._

"_Harry, why is your friend hugging me?" she asked, slightly breathless. _

_Harry frowned as he replied "Because you looked sad and I thought it would cheer you up". Kiara had to smile at that, Harry was really thoughtful, though at times, it could be misplaced, such as now._

"_Harry, you remember when I said that you had to hug gently?" she gasped, the constriction now having a real effect on her lungs. Seeing her Padawan nod, she continued "Well, your friend is hugging me too hard, tell him to hug me gently and then let go." Thankfully Harry did so and the snake slithered off. Kiara then had to spend the next five minutes calming Harry down because he thought she didn't appreciate the hug._

Smiling to himself, Harry turned his attention to the problem of what he was going to do now. He heard the Den entrance open, and looked up. He was still in his wolf form, and Hermione immediately transformed into Tawny, nuzzling him sympathetically. Fred and George patted his back, and pulled his ears slightly. Harry stretched and then transformed back.

"What am I going to do guys?" he whispered. "The whole school is going to think I'm some sort of monster when I'm not. Any ideas would be helpful."

Fred and George suddenly got identical grins on their faces. "We could turn it into a joke," they said. "Make it appear ridiculous that you're a monster."

Hermione turned round and slapped them. "That's not funny, he doesn't need that," she said sharply. More quietly she said "Just ignore the whispers and do what you normally do Harry, it'll die down soon enough." Harry hoped she was right because right now, the rest of the year looked pretty bleak to him.

Soon after that, Harry found his only activities being Quidditch, his normal training with Hermione, classes and homework. He didn't feel like pranking, not when there was a cloud of suspicion hanging over his head. Dumbledore didn't appear to suspect him anymore which was a relief, and McGonagall outwardly supported him, taking points and giving detentions to those students in her classes that dared to verbally attack Harry. He was also concentrating on the upcoming Quidditch game against Slytherin, he had informed his master about the date and she had promised to come. Happy at that prospect, he climbed the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, hoping to slip into the dorm unnoticed, but Ginny Weasley waylaid him. He noticed that she was looking stressed and upset, and also noticed that she was carrying her small black diary with her. Something about that diary gave Harry an uneasy feeling but he shrugged it off. After talking with Ginny, he escaped up to bed, falling asleep dreaming about Quidditch.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Quidditch and Lockheart**

The next day, Harry did his usual training, combining it with a brief run through the Forest with Hermione, as Jet and Tawny. Returning to Gryffindor Tower, they showered and changed, with Harry getting dressed in his Jedi robes, as it was a weekend, he was permitted to wear whatever he wanted, and he wanted to be comfortable. He then walked to the Den, settling down and finishing his homework, two essays, each three feet long, one for Charms and the other for Herbology. Potions, DADA and Transfiguration had been finished earlier. Stretching, he looked at the time. While he had been studying, time had passed so it was now almost time for lunch. Cursing himself for not watching the time more closely, he put his books away and raced down to the Great Hall, remembering to lock the Den again before he left.

Lunch was good, and Harry ate well, though not too heavily. He didn't want to get cramps, though he was long past the stage where he got so nervous that he couldn't eat. After lunch he raced to the changing rooms, swiftly changing into his Quidditch gear before joining his team out on the pitch. He spotted his master in the stands, next to McGonagall. She looked happy to be there and he waved slightly before shooting into the air as the game began.

Harry immediately began searching for the Snitch. The Slytherin Seeker, Draco Malfoy had apparently bought his way onto the team, if the new brooms the Slytherins were riding were any indication. Harry jerked himself out of his musings to perform a barrel roll as a Bludger sped at him. Shaking himself he concentrated on the game, stretching out with the Force to warn himself of any incoming Bludgers.

Barely two minutes later there was a whistling sound as the same Bludger sped at him, and this time Harry stopped his broom and dropped in a controlled fall of a few metres to dodge it. He gaped when the Bludger reversed direction and headed straight for him again. Taking off, he sped between the other players, trying in vain to shake the deadly iron ball on his tail. It was then that he spotted the Snitch.

Doing a sharp U-turn, he took off after it, the Bludger missing him by inches but it was soon back on his tail. Malfoy came up beside him and both of them chased the Snitch. They wove in and out of the stands, ducking down to go between the supports, with crashing sounds indicating that the Bludger was smashing straight through them. Draco saw a support too late and crashed, falling to the pitch, stunned. Harry continued, chasing the Snitch and gaining altitude as the Snitch headed upwards. By now, the spectators had noticed that Harry had a rogue Bludger on his tail and the Weasley twins were trying to hit it towards the Slytherins with no luck. Gryffindor were ahead on points, but only just. Then Slytherin retook the lead. Harry was getting frustrated as he chased the Snitch because he had to keep his eye on the Bludger at the same time. Or at least, he did until Kiara decided to help him out.

**:Padawan, let me tell you where that blasted ball is at. I'll direct you in which way to turn to avoid it while you catch that Snitch and end this game:** came the mental voice of his Master.

**: What, but isn't that cheating?:** he protested. He could feel his Master's amusement mixed with worry for what might happen if the Bludger hit him.

**: So is a rogue Bludger, Padawan, and besides, no one will know outside of us. I'm more interested in keeping you in one piece than game rules:** Kiara retorted. Harry smiled and shook his head, agreeing to the direction.

Using his master's guidance, he was able to avoid the Bludger and ended up somersaulting onto the ground, catching the Snitch in his hand as he did so. Unfortunately the Bludger had scored a hit and had broken his arm. Sitting on the ground, his hand raised in triumph, he barely heard his Master's warning to roll left as the charmed Bludger smashed into the sand where his head had been seconds ago. Another warning to move right came just in time as the Bludger hit the other side, sending him rolling away and hoping that someone would deal with it soon. He barely managed to sit up, his legs wide apart as the Bludger did it's best to emasculate him. Eyes wide, he watched as Hermione cast _Finite Incantatem_ at the Bludger, blowing it to pieces.

He looked around, and spotted the worst possible person coming towards him. Lockheart crouched beside him, saying something about being able to mend his arm as good as new. Harry tried to yank his arm away, sending a mental cry of **:HELP:** to Kiara, who was busy fighting her way through the crowd. She didn't get there in time though, and Harry, along with everyone else watched in revolted horror, as the spell Lockheart used to mend his bones, simply removed them. The blond idiot didn't get very far with his explanation of "That sometimes happens but the point is the bones are no longer broken," before there was a growl of rage and Lockheart found himself lifted off the ground by an invisible hand. He looked down into the face of a spitting mad Jedi Master, who looked more than happy to murder him.

"Broken!" Kiara hissed. "There's no bones LEFT you stupid idiot. Not in his broken arm, or his shoulder, or his other arm. I'm surprised his ribcage didn't disappear as well you brainless git. Maybe I should borrow my Padawan's wand and remove the bones from your head!"

Harry laughed weakly, looking at his very floppy arms in dismay. "Master, you can't do that. His head would look like my arms except there'd be no sloshing noises. There's nothing in his head EXCEPT bone, after all." The students started laughing so hard they could barely stand up.

Kiara let Lockheart drop to the ground as she smiled grimly. "I suppose you're right, Padawan, but we'd better go to the Hospital Wing I think. Those bones need to be re-grown." With that, she picked Harry up and stalked off to the castle, muttering the whole way about Dumbledore hiring brainless idiots to teach classes.

Once in the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey joined Kiara in cursing the day Lockheart was allowed near the students. She measured out a rather large dose of skele-gro and handed it to Harry. He eyed it in distaste before swallowing, using all of his Jedi reflexes to not spit it back up again. He didn't think his Master would be very impressed at wearing Skele-Gro for a second time.

"Ugh that tastes worse than that chicken pox cure," he groaned. Kiara smiled sympathetically, remembering the time Harry had come down with a nasty case of chicken pox that required a trip to St Mungo's in the middle of the night. The cure that Harry referred to was a thick potion that could be flavoured but had to be thinned out with water, and tasted bad, even with the flavouring. As Harry had been only four at the time, getting him to take the required doses over the next ten days had been something of a nightmare. Kiara was impressed that she wasn't wearing the Skele-Gro, the one other time that Harry had had it, after breaking his leg badly enough that it couldn't be mended another way, he had taken one gulp, and had promptly sprayed it everywhere, including all over her. This time it looked to be going down easier.

That night, Harry was lying in bed, in the Hospital Wing half asleep. After being threatened with being restrained in bed, he had reluctantly agreed to stay there. He was just going back to sleep when the doors to the Hospital Wing opened. In came his master, with Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster. They were levitating the frozen form of a first year Gryffindor that Harry knew as Colin Creevy. The boy was obsessed with him for some reason. He utilised the Force to hear what they were saying

"… do you think he got a picture of what attacked him?" McGonagall whispered. Dumbledore prised the camera out of Creevy's grip and opened the back. Steam wafted out.

"What does this mean?" Kiara whispered, very much aware of Harry listening in but not commenting on it.

Dumbledore looked very old for a minute, before replying, "It means that the Chamber of Secrets is open again. If the attacker is not caught then the school might have to be closed."

Harry closed his eyes and went to sleep, puzzling over the strange events and wondering if that snake he'd heard had anything to do with it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Attacks and Research**

Harry was released from the Hospital Wing the next afternoon, and immediately headed for the Den. Hermione had told him that she would be doing research on this mystery attacker in there and to come and see her when he was released. Opening the door, he saw, with amusement that Fleetfoot and Puck were curled up in separate corners, muzzled, and with strong chains holding them there so they couldn't escape. Hermione herself was looking through several books and she closed the one she was working through just as he arrived.

"What happened withFleetfoot and Puck?" he asked, very amused.

Hermione growled slightly before answering. "They weren't being any help whatsoever with the research and when they tipped over several books I was cross referencing in their mad dash round the room, I decided to restrain them.

Harry chuckled before transforming into Jet and taking a look at the two foxes, who were silently begging him to let them go. Transforming back he said "Tawny, I think they've had enough. Let them go and we can just exile them from the Den until we're finished if they don't want to help." Hermione muttered the cancellation for the charms she'd done and Fred and George promptly changed back to their usual selves.

"Remind us never to annoy you again when you're doing research, Hermione," Fred muttered as he sat down.

George sat down as well, pulling a book towards himself as he did so. "Yeah, those muzzles are bloody uncomfortable," he commented. Hermione barely looked up long enough to mutter an apology before continuing. After that the only sound in the room was the soft rustle of turning pages as the four Demons looked for an answer to the perplexing mystery of who the attacker was. Finally Harry spotted it.

"Of course," he exclaimed, letting the book he'd been perusing fall open on the table. "It's right here, look, the attacker has to be a Basilisk. Roosters dead, spiders heading out of the castle at a rate of knots, a voice that only I can hear, not to mention the Petrification. The Basilisk can kill with one glance but if you don't meet its gaze directly then you only get Petrified. It all fits."

"But Harry," George said, "how is it getting round the castle? You'd think someone would have reported a gigantic snake slithering round."

Harry thought for a moment before slapping his forehead as realisation struck. "Pipes. It's using the plumbing. I've been hearing rustling noises and hissing in the walls before each attack. It has to be using the pipes."

Happy to have figured out what the monster was, and how it was moving about, the next question was, how exactly did one destroy a Basilisk.

Harry's answer to that was simple as well. "We leave it to the teachers. None of us are skilled enough to take on a snake like that, not even me. I'm willing to bet that it wouldn't listen to me even if I did attempt to talk with it. Not to mention that my master would kill me for even trying. No, we leave this one to the staff. All we have to do is find the entrance and then tell the staff where it is. I might have to open it for them but then I'm staying well out of it." Hermione and the twins reluctantly agreed.

The next couple of days saw two more attacks, with one of them being a double attack. Penelope Clearwater and Nearly Headless Nick were found in a corridor off one of the classroom corridors, while Justin Finch-Fletchley was found Petrified as well. All these attacks did was make everyone more fearful, the students weren't talking cheerfully anymore, and the teachers were nervous and tense. It was within this atmosphere that public sentiment turned against Harry, and also when Hermione had her brilliant Polyjuice plan.

If the atmosphere for most of the students was tense, then for Harry it was nearly unbearable. The students whispered about him behind his back, glares were thrown at him in the library, and Ron had taken to attempting to prank him whenever he entered Gryffindor Tower. Things came to a head one day between the two of them, when Harry woke up one day to find the door to the dormitory blocked. Seamus and Dean had left a note on his bed saying that they and Neville had wanted no part in the prank and that Ron had set it up on his own.

Growling, Harry retrieved his broomstick and slithered out the window. He flew down to the main entrance of the school and, shouldering his broomstick, walked inside. He reached the Gryffindor table to find that Ron had apparently been poisoning his Housemates against him, because only Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George looked friendly. Also on his side, or at the very least neutral, was the Quidditch team, who were glaring at Ron fiercely. Seamus, Dean and Neville looked uncomfortable with what Ron was saying, but they, like Harry had to live in the same dorm as the prat so they didn't outwardly contradict him. He felt happy to have the support of the team and his friends, but also felt saddened that the rest of his House was so willing to believe the worst of him. Sitting down he had a quick breakfast before heading off to class.

Hermione cornered him after classes, and told him to come to the Den as she had found a way to find out if Draco Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin. Harry raised his eyebrows when he heard the plan, and then said that he had found out that the Chamber had been opened fifty years before, and a girl had died. He then went to see if the diary he had found was still in his dorm. It wasn't. The diary, which had looked like the one Ginny Weasley had been writing in, was blank at first glance but absorbed any ink that was dropped on the pages. Harry had had an interesting conversation with the original owner, one Tom Marvolo Riddle. Now, the diary was gone and his things had been tipped everywhere. He set to work cleaning it up.

By the time dinner rolled round, Hermione had obtained access to the Restricted Section of the library to get the book for the Polyjuice Potion. Harry snorted when he read the signature. Gilderoy Lockheart, it seemed, really would sign anything if it stood still long enough. He still didn't think this plan was going to work, and was proven right a month later when Hermione mistook a cat's hair from a human hair and grew the fur, tail and whiskers of a cat. She looked very funny but Harry restrained himself from laughing, because she looked miserable.

During all this, the Basilisk had lain quiet. No one quite knew when the next attack would come, although Hagrid had been taken away on suspicion of being the mysterious attacker. Harry merely arched an eyebrow when he heard; it seemed the Ministry really was incompetent, along with the Minister.

Several more weeks passed in this fashion and then all of a sudden, Harry's world was turned upside down.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: Now It's Personal**

Harry was out on the Quidditch pitch dressed to play the most recent game against Hufflepuff, when Professor McGonagall came out onto the field.

"This match has been cancelled," she called out, "all students are to return to their common rooms immediately and wait for more instructions from their head of house. Start moving in quietly please."

As the students started moving indoors, McGonagall reached out and grasped Harry's arm. "You and the Weasley twins are to come with me, Potter," she said quietly. "There's something you need to see." That said, she led them to the Hospital Wing. Harry was sick with fear that the Basilisk might have Petrified his master when she visited last, but then saw that it was, in a way, worse. He sank down onto the chair beside Hermione's bed, only now understanding the spike of fear that he had received through the connection with Hermione, just before the game. He also understood why the connection seemed muted. He thought to himself that the next time his master was around, whether here, or at home during the holidays, that he needed to get her to check this bond between he and Hermione. He knew it wasn't a friendship bond, it was deeper than that but he didn't know what it was.

Reaching down, he grasped Hermione's hand, pressing his forehead against it. A quiet sob escaped him as he realised that he hadn't been able to protect her, and that, even though she would wake up, once the Mandrake Draught had been made and administered, she would have missed everything in between. It was then that the young Jedi realised that he was hopelessly in love with her, and that he definitely wanted the rest of his life to be with her. He started planning a trip to his family vault in the summer, to get his parent's rings. He would ask Hermione to be his girlfriend, and give her the promise ring if she agreed. The engagement ring would come on graduation day, with the wedding ring coming sometime after that. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Professor McGonagall holding a small mirror.

"Does this mean anything to you, Mr Potter?" she asked, taking in his slightly reddened eyes, and look of determination. Harry sighed and nodded.

"Yes, Professor, we, that is Fred, George, Hermione, and I worked out what the monster is, how it's been getting round the school, and I think I've worked out where the entrance to the Chamber is, and how to open it. I was going to tell you later, after the game, and take you there. I was also going to stay out of it after opening it for whoever went down there." He turned to look at Hermione. "The mirror was for checking round corners, to see if it was safe, Hermione must have caught the gaze in the mirror." He subsided and returned to holding Hermione's hand. Fred and George had left, leaving Harry to be alone with his friend. McGonagall turned to go as well, but then she turned back.

"You said that you _were_ going to stay out of it, Mr Potter. What changed?" she asked, although she had a good idea of what had changed.

Harry swung round to face her, his green eyes gleaming, his face a mask of conflicting emotions.

"That blasted snake Petrified my girlfriend, that's what changed," he snarled. More quietly, he added, "I would have stayed out of this but now," he shrugged and gripped Hermione's hand tighter, "now it's personal."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Ginny**

Harry was finally thrown out of the Hospital Wing by Madam Pomfrey later that night. He walked restlessly for a while, before heading back to Gryffindor Tower. When he got there, he was greeted by a tide of Gryffindors, all asking his forgiveness for believing that he was the Heir, when they all knew that he would never attack Hermione. Harry stared at all of them, not quite believing what he was hearing.

After chewing all of them out for a bit, and bleeding off quite a bit of frustration and helplessness with it, he escaped up to his dormitory where he set his lightsaber up to charge. Its power reserves had been getting a bit low and it needed to be between half and fully charged before it would cut with its usual lethal accuracy and precision. Right now it was running on almost empty. That done, he sat on his bed and sank into a deep meditation, trying to cut off his feelings for Hermione from the Basilisk situation. He achieved partial success, managing to stop it feeling like a personal insult and challenge to himself; but he wasn't able to fully detach himself from the situation and look at it logically and dispassionately, as he had been taught to do. More than ever he wished he were at home, where his master could help him and guide him through this tangled mess he was in. Cutting off that train of thought quickly, he went through the information again, determined to behave like a Jedi, not a little kid, or, he thought with a shudder, like a vengeful idiot. He did not want to risk turning Dark simply because a snake had petrified the girl he liked. He was NOT like that. He wasn't.

Going to classes the next day was a nightmare. Due to the recent attack, all students were shepherded between classes by a teacher. Points were removed for the tiniest infraction and also rarely given out. No one dared to talk in the corridors; a feeling of fear clogged the air and Harry found his Force sense blinded by it. A note came for him via Hedwig that evening.

_Padawan_

_What on earth is going on up at Hogwarts? The fear is so thick I can feel it all the way at Sanctuary and it's clouding my vision in the Force. It must be blinding you too, unless you've fashioned some sort of defence against it. What's happening?"_

_Kiara_

Harry sent back a note explaining the situation. He was not surprised to receive a return letter telling him in no uncertain terms to stay out of it and let his professors handle it. Harry felt a brief moment of guilt that he was planning to ignore this and go anyway, but squashed it, concentrating instead, on how to beat the basilisk. His morning training had been stopped several weeks ago but Harry still got up at the same time each morning. That evening as he was going to the Tower to study, there was another announcement, calling all teachers to the staff room. Harry cloaked himself in the Force and followed. Hiding behind a suit of armor, he heard the worst possible news. Ginny Weasley had been taken by the Basilisk, right into the Chamber itself.

'That's it!' he thought to himself. That blasted snake has Petrified my girlfriend and taken my friend. This is ending tonight.' Turning round he ran to Gryffindor Tower, slipping in just before McGonagall came in. Running up the stairs, he slipped into his Jedi uniform again, and groaned when he saw his lightsaber.

'Only quarter charged, I'll have to leave it behind,' he thought in despair. 'Not only am I disobeying a direct order from my master I have to leave my primary weapon behind. She's going to kill me when she finds out, but I have to go.'

Slipping down the stairs, he saw Ron, Fred, George and Percy huddled together by the fire. Walking over to them he greeted them quietly. Percy and Ron initially resented his presence, but when they saw what he was wearing, they correctly deduced that he was going to the Chamber to save their sister. They were a lot more friendly after that. Fred and George followed him to the entrance of Gryffindor Tower, pausing just before the portrait.

"Harry, where's your lightsaber?" Fred asked quietly.

Harry grimaced. "Recharging," he said shortly. "I've got my wand, don't worry, and I also have this mirror. I'll be fine." As he said it he wondered who he was trying to reassure, the twins or himself.

George reached out and drew him into a brief hug. "Be careful, Jet," he whispered. Harry swallowed a thick lump in his throat and nodded as he slipped quietly out of the portrait hole. It was time to go rescue his friend and put an end to this reign of terror that the Basilisk had started.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: Lockheart and the Snakehunt**

Harry headed swiftly for the Defence classroom, his feet making no sound on the stone floor of the corridors. Entering the office, he saw Lockheart packing swiftly and slammed the door shut, extending his wand as he did so.

"Going somewhere, Lockheart?" he said icily.

Lockheart looked up, frightened by seeing Harry's wand pointed at him. He babbled some excuse about a sick relative but Harry snarled and jabbed his wand closer.

"I would have thought that you would be able to help, being the oh so wonderful Gilderoy Lockheart," he sneered. "Or are your books all fakes?" He knew he'd hit a nerve when Lockheart flushed, but wasn't prepared for the wizard to pull his own wand.

"I'm quite gifted with memory charms, Harry. I'm going to have to put one on you, can't have you blabbing my secret about. _Obliviate!_"

Harry's focus narrowed to the beam of light shooting towards him. He sidestepped it, and then focused with the Force. The charm stopped, then flew back in the opposite direction, hitting Lockheart instead. The fool fell over and then exhibited all the signs of memory modification – a large modification as the charm had basically wiped his entire memory. Harry growled with annoyance, locked the idiot in his office and then made his way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

Slipping in the door he made his way over to the sink. He looked at it but couldn't see anything abnormal about it. Shrugging he called for Myrtle.

"Myrtle" he called out. The ghost floated out of the stall nearest him.

"Yes, what do you want?" she snapped.

Harry rolled his eyes; dealing with Myrtle was frustrating at times. "I want to ask you how you died," he said. He was rather disturbed at the fact that the ghost seemed to enjoy telling him how she'd died.

After getting the information, he thanked Myrtle and made his way back to the sink. Looking down under the taps he saw a small carved snake on one sink. Standing back he hissed _:Open:_

There was a grinding sound, and the sinks split apart and rotated out of the way, the drain cover sank down out of sight and disappeared. When the dust settled, he was looking at a gigantic drainpipe. He edged closer and said in Parseltongue _:I wonder if there's any stairs:_

He got a huge shock when a staircase materialised down the drainpipe. Shrugging, he started down them, using his wand for light, and sincerely wishing that he had his lightsaber with him. He wished that even harder when he came upon the shed skin of the Basilisk; it was nearly sixty feet long. He swallowed hard. 'If I get out of this alive my master is really going to kill me.' Continuing on he became aware that he was walking over rat skulls and various other unidentifiable skeletons. Quelling the urge to vomit, he kept walking, at last coming to a great iron door with snakes on the outside.

_:Open:_ he hissed again, and the snakes started moving. The ones in the centre drew back as a snake slithered round the outer edge. When it had gone full circle, the door silently swung open. The twelve-year-old Jedi took a large breath and stepped inside.

The first thing he saw was Ginny. She was lying next to the statue of someone that Harry assumed was Salazar Slytherin. Lying next to her was the diary. He checked her and found her cold and almost dead. Looking around he sensed another presence.

Out of the shadows stepped Tom Riddle, the Riddle from the diary. Harry frowned and got up, still holding his wand.

"Who are you?" he demanded. The boy laughed before walking forward. Harry noticed the Slytherin crest on his robes.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle, and you are Harry Potter. Ginny told me all about you, and your Jedi status. Where's that lightsaber of yours, Potter, I thought the Jedi were never without it." Tom stated mockingly.

Harry ground his teeth before replying. "That's none of your business. Why are you here anyway, you're supposed to be older. What are you?" Riddle became serious.

"I am a memory, preserved in this diary for fifty years. Ginny has been writing to me all year, feeding me so that I could finally take physical form again. When she dies, I will become real again, and I won't need the diary any longer. I'm most interested in you, though. How did a baby manage to survive Lord Voldemort's killing curse?"

Harry snarled. This conversation was wearing on him and he knew that Tom was stalling for time. He had to end this and fast. He stood up, meeting Tom's eyes challengingly.

"Why do you care whether I lived or not? Voldemort was after your time."

Harry suddenly had a very bad feeling about what was coming. Tom snatched his wand and wrote in fiery letters in the air:

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

He then swished the wand and the letters rearranged themselves into:

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

Harry suddenly realised that he was facing the sixteen-year-old form of Voldemort. He looked at Ginny again, missing what Voldemort was doing until he heard the first hiss. He looked up and saw the basilisk coming out of the statue's mouth. Voldemort laughed as Harry ran round the Chamber, avoiding the gigantic snake. Harry was now swearing mentally and promising to himself that he would never let his lightsaber get so low on power again. Suddenly there was a flash of flame and Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, dropped the Sorting Hat at his feet. More surprisingly, a silver sword materialised out of it. Harry heart leapt with hope, he was now able to kill the basilisk. Grabbing the sword he scrambled up onto the head of the statue, while the basilisk was attempting to lunge at him. It had been blinded by Fawkes so Harry was safe from its deadly gaze. He couldn't help thinking, though, that there was one deadly gaze that Fawkes couldn't save him from, and that one happened to belong to his master. He ignored this train of thought as the basilisk opened its mouth and lunged. As it did so, Harry held the sword like he would his lightsaber and pierced the roof of its mouth with the blade, thrusting up into its brain.

The snake gave a shriek of agony and thrashed around before collapsing to the floor dead. Harry barely managed to avoid the deadly path of one fang as it came near his arm as the beast went down.

He jumped off the statue and ran to Ginny. She was now only minutes away from death and the teenage Voldemort was looking more and more solid. Harry glanced at the diary and then at the basilisk. Understanding came in a flash. He grabbed the diary, jumped up and made his way over to the dead snake. Looking straight at Voldemort, he jammed the book up into the closest fang, so that the venom penetrated the pages. Tom screamed in agony and Harry did it again and again, before letting the diary fall as he watched Tom Riddle explode in a shower of light.

Harry ran back over to Ginny, and was there when she woke up. After soothing her fears of being expelled away, and cracking a joke that if there was trouble in the parental department, then she wouldn't be the only one, he then looked at Fawkes. The phoenix trilled at him.

#Are you all right young Jedi# he heard in his head.

"Yes I am, Fawkes but, why did you come and help me?" he said mentally. He heard the phoenix equivalent of a chuckle.

#You might not like Dumbledore very much, young Harry, but you are pure of heart and also, all Light creatures will help a Jedi. You will find that certain Dark creatures will offer you a measure of respect as well, in that they will not attack you or anyone else you have under your protection.#

"Uh, thanks. Ginny and I need to be going now; we need to get back above." Harry said, rather shocked at this information. Fawkes trilled again, and offered Harry and Ginny a lift. Accepting it, they found themselves in Myrtle's bathroom again.

Harry followed his Force sense to where he sensed Ginny's parents, Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster. He gulped when he realised that he could also sense his master's presence, and then realised that she would have been called when he disappeared, like the Weasley's had been called when Ginny had been taken. Steeling himself, he opened the door.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: Relief, Repercussions and the End of School.**

As soon as the door opened, and they stepped inside, Harry and Ginny were met by cries of relief and happiness from Mrs Weasley. Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster looked somewhat stunned, but also relieved, while Kiara had… no visible reaction. Harry could feel the relief that rolled through their bond though, and underlying that was also a well-restrained anger as well as a sense of profound disappointment. He gulped when he realised that his master was waiting until they were alone before she said anything and also that whatever she said was most probably not going to be pleasant.

Turning to Dumbledore, he bowed briefly before offering him the sword he'd used to kill the Basilisk. Dumbledore accepted it before asking quietly for an explanation of what had happened, both down in the Chamber, and also before. Harry looked at Ginny before starting his explanation.

"….and then Fawkes appeared and dropped the Sorting Hat at my feet. The sword appeared in it when I wanted a weapon to kill the Basilisk with. I grabbed it and thrust the end into its brain, before grabbing the diary and jabbing it onto the snake's fang when it was dead. Then Fawkes gave me some information regarding the relationship between Light creatures and the Jedi, before transporting us back to the surface again. Then we came here." Having finished his explanation, Harry sat down and bowed his head, suddenly feeling very tired as the adrenaline wore off. His head jerked up as his master asked the one question he had been hoping to avoid, at least until they were in private.

"And where exactly was your lightsaber, Padawan?" Kiara's voice sounded neutral but to Harry, it carried an undertone that he didn't like. He also knew that if she was upset with him before, then she was going to go through the roof when she heard his answer. Looking at the floor he mumbled his reply.

"ItwasrechargingMaster," he said.

"Excuse me, Padawan, I didn't hear that, could you repeat it"

"I said it was recharging, Master," Harry said, resigned to being thoroughly chewed out in front of Ginny, her parents, McGonagall and the Headmaster. He looked up when he heard a strangled cough.

McGonagall looked as though she was desperately trying not to laugh, Dumbledore was twinkling away like he always did, Ginny was also trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the reason, while Mr and Mrs Weasley were looking warily between himself and his master, uncertain as to whether Kiara would explode or not. Hurriedly everyone got up, Dumbledore and McGonagall walking out of the room slightly quicker than normal. Ginny followed, flashing Harry a small smile as she passed. Mrs Weasley hugged him and whispered a heartfelt "thankyou" into his ear while Mr Weasley patted his shoulder before leaning down to whisper "Good luck," in his other ear. They then left, leaving Harry alone with his master, who looked very close to strangling him.

"Let me get this sorted," his master began, pacing round the room. "You went down into the **Chamber of Secrets** where you** knew** there was a basilisk, and you went down there with **no backup** and your lightsaber was RECHARGING!" She yelled the last word, and Harry flinched slightly. He hated being yelled at.

"Er, yes Master, that's correct," he said nervously, wondering what exactly his master was planning to do to him. Kiara was still pacing round, fuming, and Harry had a sudden, irrational thought.

'If she was a cartoon character then steam would be coming out her ears right now,' he thought to himself, then had to quell the urge to giggle at the mental picture that created. He pulled himself back to the situation as his master began speaking again.

"Do you have ANY idea what I went through when I heard you'd gone missing as well?" she demanded. "I spend several hours here, worrying myself sick and then you have the temerity to waltz in and say that you killed a thousand year old snake with the help of a sword and the Headmaster's PHOENIX, and you also say that you didn't take your lightsaber because it was recharging!" Kiara turned to face him, and the glare she was giving him felt to Harry as though it would burn holes straight through him.

"Why did you not Floo me, like you did last year? We could have handled it together, rather than you almost getting yourself killed. Also, Minerva told me that you had initially planned to stay out of it, but then it Petrified Hermione. I'm starting to think that maybe spending some time apart this summer would be good for you."

Harry's head snapped up at this. "You can't do that," he yelled, not caring that yelling at one's extremely pissed off master might be classified as suicidal. "I love her. You can't force us apart. I won't let you. She's going to be my girlfriend; you absolutely cannot keep us apart!" Harry stopped there because he ran out of breath. Looking to see what his master's reaction was he seriously considered turning tail and running out of Hogwarts as fast as he could go. Kiara looked on the verge of exploding.

"Can't I, **Padawan**?" she said, putting an emphasis on his title. "I certainly think I can, and as your master, it's my prerogative to do so. I'm not talking about ending the relationship between you; I'm talking about taking time for us to examine your feelings for her, and also for you to regain your objectivity and logical, rational behaviour when it comes to her. Answer me this, Harry, if you were on a mission with Hermione, and she was injured, and you had to leave her behind in order to complete the mission, would you do so? And don't say what you think I want to hear, answer me honestly."

Harry thought about it before groaning and answering quietly "I wouldn't leave her, Master. I would rather throw the mission away than leave her. I know its wrong but I can't help it." Looking up into his master's eyes, he choked out "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have done this but I just, I wasn't thinking straight." He then returned to studying the floor, certain that this was the end of his apprenticeship. He was therefore surprised to feel himself gathered up into a hug. It lasted only briefly but it was enough to reassure him that he was still a Jedi, still loved, and that his master wasn't going to disown him or anything like that.

"Harry this is why I want the two of you separated for a while. Considering you're going to be grounded for the first week of the summer, that shouldn't be too difficult. During that week, we will, as I said be examining this bond between yourself and Hermione, and if it's what I think it is then I can help you learn to control your emotions so that this kind of thing doesn't happen again."

Harry had raised his head in shock when he heard what his first week of summer was going to be like and erupted again, despite knowing that it was a very bad idea. "Grounded? You mean not able to see Hermione, or the twins, or Ginny, or Seamus or Dean? That isn't fair. I received a vision at the start of this year with the Chamber and the Basilisk in it, I had to go. I'm sorry that you don't like it but you can't do this. It most definitely isn't fair." Harry sat down again and sulked for a bit, only to freeze when he heard Kiara start speaking in a very controlled, very icy tone of voice.

"Harry James Potter, you will cease and desist acting like a two-year-old this instant. That little outburst has earned you another week added onto the first one, so you are now grounded for the first two weeks. If you push me any further I am more than willing to up it to three weeks and beyond if necessary. Cease this behaviour NOW or you might find yourself grounded for the whole summer!"

Harry gulped, he knew that his master was more than capable of carrying through with the threat of grounding him for the whole summer and did not want to be restricted to the house for that long. Not to mention that he would be spending a lot of time doing extra training exercises and meditation. He groaned quietly, before asking in a perfectly respectful tone, "Master, may I go and visit Hermione, she should be waking up now that the Mandrake Draught has been given".

Kiara eyed him for a moment before assenting. Harry got up, walked steadily out the door, closed it, and then ran for the Hospital Wing like he had a pack of Sith on his heels.

Walking into the Hospital Wing, he saw Ginny, Fred and George clustered round Hermione's bed. She looked at him as he entered, and hugged him the instant he got close enough. Releasing her he smiled sadly.

"What's up, Jet?" she said softly.

"My master is what's up," he muttered. "I just got treated to a rather scathing lecture on the benefits of calling for backup and having my lightsaber charged at all times. I'm grounded for the first two weeks of the summer, due to my big mouth and challenging the original decision of one week. Worse, my master has decided that the two of us have to take things slower and has decreed that I'm to spend the two weeks that I'll be incommunicado sorting out my feelings for you and then detaching myself from them so they don't cloud my judgement."

Hermione looked at him sympathetically. "It could have been worse, Harry," she said.

Then Fred chimed in. "Yeah, it could have been Mum yelling at you, Harry," he said with a chuckle.

Harry looked bleakly at him. "Tell you what, Fred, you get yelled at by my master, and I'll get yelled at by your Mum, and then we can compare notes based on experience, and work out who has it worst," he growled.

Fred now had a comical look of horror on his face and started backing away. "No thanks mate, your master is scary enough when she's NOT yelling at me. I honestly think I wouldn't survive if she did." he said. Ginny, who had remained silent so far, got up and hugged Harry. Grateful for the contact, he leaned in slightly before she let go.

About ten minutes later, Harry and Hermione were sitting in the Hospital Wing talking about what had happened since she'd been Petrified. Hermione giggled when she heard how Harry had reversed Lockheart's memory charm and asked Harry if he was still there. Harry then yelped in alarm.

"Holy Sith, Hermione, I forgot to tell Dumbledore about him, he's probably still locked in his office. Oh to hell with it, can this day possibly get any worse?" he said in frustration.

"Actually, Harry, yes it can" Hermione said, gripping his arm. "I suggest you turn round."

Turning round, Harry was greeted by the spirits of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and his parents. He groaned and sank into a chair, his head dropping into his hands.

"Have you lot come to yell at me too?" he asked in a muffled voice.

He heard his mother chuckle before saying "No, Harry, I think Master Lyn yelled enough for all of us. Not that these Jedi are here to yell at you, Anakin was curious to meet the magical world's Chosen One, and Obi-Wan is here to try and stop him corrupting you."

"Nice work with the snake by the way," Anakin chimed in. "And I came here to help you, not corrupt you like Lily says."

Harry glanced up in curiosity. "How are you going to help me, and with what?" he asked.

Anakin looked thoughtful for a moment before grinning. "How about ways of getting out of trouble?" he said, before yelping as Lily chased him round the room. "All right, all right, I give up, stop it." he yelled. Coming to a halt in front of Harry and Hermione, who were by this time laughing so hard they could barely breathe, he coughed slightly.

"Right, well, I'm here to help you learn to detach yourself from your feelings, so you can be an effective Jedi while still loving this wonderful girl over here," he said.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "Like you did such a good job of that yourself, Anakin" he said. "I personally don't believe that Kiara has the right idea, but I won't interfere. Just learn to control yourself, Harry and you should be OK". He then faded away.

James and Lily also faded but not before formally giving their blessing for any relationship that might develop between them. Anakin then came over and sat on the bed, and the lesson began. Harry was initially frustrated that he couldn't detach himsef from his emotions until Anakin suggested building a mental wall round them and then making that wall transparent, so Harry could see the love he felt for Hermione was still there, just controlled. Harry nodded and began the process of building that wall. At the end of the first lesson, he had quarter of the wall built although it was solid and not transparent. Anakin reassured him that the transparency would come when the whole wall had been built and that he'd made good progress. Harry thanked him and then returned to his dormitory.

Fred, George, Ron and Percy had been waiting for him in Gryffindor Tower. They thanked him again, Ron and Percy slightly awkwardly, for saving Ginny. That done they went to bed, as the Leaving Feast was the next day.

At the leaving feast, all the Petrified people were present and the atmosphere was cheerful and happy. Anakin had floated off after the first lesson and Harry had next encountered him making a rather large apology to Kiara. She was listening to him, which was encouraging, but she hadn't fully forgiven him. She did say though, that it would take time for that to happen, but eventually it would. Harry was also happy that things had gone back to normal between him and his master. He was still grounded for the first two weeks of summer holiday, but she had calmed down and wasn't glaring daggers at him anymore. Harry grinned; his master wasn't one of those people who stayed mad for very long, so he knew that while he wouldn't be allowed out of the house, and certain other activities would be restricted, the general day to day relationship between them would remain the same.

The next day Harry boarded the train that would take him home, happy to have survived his second year at Hogwarts and found himself looking forward to another summer of training and fun even if the first two weeks would be spent with no contact from his friends. He settled back and went to sleep, waking up at Kings Cross station. Having arranged to go with Hermione to her house and Floo from there, seeing as his master was arranging things for his incarceration as he called it, at home. It wasn't long though before he ran into problems once again.


End file.
